U.S./World category, Page 310
Former students of the for-profit Art Institutes are approved for $6 billion in loan cancellation
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday said it will cancel $6 billion in student loans for people who attended the Art Institutes, a system of for-profit colleges that closed the last of its campuses in 2023 amid accusations of fraud. Saying the chain lured students with “pervasive” lies, the...
Utah cat with a fondness for cardboard takes surprise trip to California in an Amazon box
Galena, a 6-year-old house cat from Utah, likes hiding and playing with cardboard. Earlier this month, the combination of the two made for a stressful trip in an Amazon package, a feverish search, a California rescue and a tearful reunion. Her family is still waiting to “reintroduce cardboard to her...
What’s causing the catastrophic rainfall in Kenya?
NAIROBI, Kenya — The torrential rains and deadly floods that have hit Kenya since March have been some of the most catastrophic in the country in recent years. At least 169 people have died due to the heavy rains, with at least 91 missing, according to the latest government figures....
Haiti’s transitional council names a new prime minister in the hopes of quelling stifling violence
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose a little known former sports minister as the Caribbean country’s prime minister Tuesday as part of its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence. Fritz Bélizaire was chosen in a surprise move to replace current...
Scammers stole $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, FBI report says
WASHINGTON — Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, according to an FBI report released Tuesday that shows a rise in losses through increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics to trick the vulnerable into giving up their life savings. Losses from scams reported by Americans older than 60...
Mammograms should start at 40 to address rising breast cancer rates at younger ages, panel says
Regular mammograms to screen for breast cancer should start younger, at age 40, according to an influential U.S. task force. Women ages 40 to 74 should get screened every other year, the group said. Previously, the task force had said women could choose to start breast cancer screening as young...
A massive Powerball win draws attention to a little-known immigrant culture in the U.S.Video
PORTLAND, Ore. — Cheng “Charlie” Saephan wore a broad smile and a bright blue sash emblazoned with the words “Iu-Mien USA” as he hoisted an oversized check for $1.3 billion above his head. The 46-year-old immigrant’s luck in winning an enormous Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month — a...
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
LONDON — A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said. A 36-year-old man was subdued with a stun gun and arrested on suspicion of murder in a...
4 officers killed in North Carolina were at disadvantage as shots rained from above, police say
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Law enforcement officers with an arrest warrant demanded that a man come out of a house in North Carolina before four were killed by gunfire, the victims unable to survive shots coming from inside the dwelling, a witness and officials said Tuesday. Still reeling from Monday’s attack...
8 U.S. newspapers sue ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Microsoft for copyright infringement
NEW YORK — A group of eight U.S. newspapers is suing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the technology companies have been “purloining millions” of copyrighted news articles without permission or payment to train their artificial intelligence chatbots. The New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post and other papers...
A 98-year-old in Ukraine walked miles to safety from Russians, with slippers and a cane
KYIV, Ukraine — A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine who escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 6 miles alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane has been reunited with her family days after they were separated while fleeing to safety. Lidia Stepanivna Lomikovska and her family decided...
U.S. challenges ‘bogus’ patents on Ozempic and other drugs in effort to spur competition
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are challenging patents on 20 brand name drugs, including the blockbuster weight-loss injection Ozempic, in the latest action by the Biden administration targeting industry practices that drive up pharmaceutical prices. The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sent warning letters to 10 drugmakers, taking issue with patents...
U.S. poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it’ll remain controlled substance
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White...
Supreme Court leaves in place a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify users’ ages
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify the age of their users. The justices rejected an emergency appeal filed by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry. The provision of House Bill 1181, signed...
U.S. and Mexico will boost deportation flights and enforcement to crack down on illegal migration
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador are moving swiftly on new steps to crack down on illegal migration that include tougher enforcement on railways, on buses and in airports as well as increased repatriation flights for migrants from both the U.S. and Mexico. The...
EPA bans consumer use of a toxic chemical widely used as a paint stripper but known to cause cancer
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it has finalized a ban on consumer uses of methylene chloride, a chemical that is widely used as a paint stripper but is known to cause liver cancer and other health problems. The EPA said its action will protect Americans from health...
Judge raises threat of jail as he holds Trump in contempt, fines him $9,000 at hush money trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. If he does it again, the judge warned,...
Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah ‘with or without a deal’ as cease-fire talks with Hamas continue
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Tuesday to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the almost 7-month-long war, as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to be gaining steam. Netanyahu’s comments came...
Protesters in custody after Columbia University calls in police to end pro-Palestinian occupation
NEW YORK — Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that...
Winner of $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot is an immigrant from Laos who has cancer
SALEM, Ore. — One of the winners of a historic $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week. Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, of Portland, told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery...
Shootout that killed 4 law officers began as task force tried to serve a warrant, police sayVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A shootout that killed four law enforcement officers and wounded four others in North Carolina began as officers approached a home to serve a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm, police said. Some of the officers who rushed to the Charlotte neighborhood Monday afternoon...
Philips will pay $1.1 billion to resolve U.S. lawsuits over breathing machines that expel debris
Medical device maker Philips, one of Westmoreland County’s largest employers, said Monday it will pay $1.1 billion to settle hundreds of personal injury lawsuits in the United States over its defective sleep apnea machines, which have been subject to a massive global recall. The Dutch manufacturer did not admit any...
Affluent Americans are driving U.S. economy and likely delaying need for Fed rate cuts
WASHINGTON — Since retiring two years ago, Joan Harris has upped her travel game. Once or twice a year, she visits her two adult children in different states. She’s planning multiple other trips, including to a science fiction convention in Scotland and a Disney cruise soon after that, along with...
French media: Actor Gérard Depardieu is in custody for questioning on sexual assault allegations
PARIS — French media are reporting that actor Gérard Depardieu is in police custody for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. Broadcaster BFMTV and the daily Le Parisien reported that the 75-year-old actor was summoned Monday morning by Paris police and...
Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on U.S. roadsVideo
On a three-lane test track along the Monongahela River, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rounded a curve. No one was on board. A quarter-mile ahead, the truck’s sensors spotted a trash can blocking one lane and a tire in another. In less than a second, it signaled, moved into the unobstructed lane...
